MC-CDMA multiplexing in an orthogonal uplink

ABSTRACT

Techniques are provided to support multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) in an orthogonal uplink of a wireless communication system. A method of wireless multi-carrier communications comprises dividing sub-carriers on an uplink into non-overlapping groups, allocating a time-frequency block including a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, respectively, assigning a different set of orthogonal codes to each user, spreading data (or pilot) symbols of each user over the allocated time-frequency block, wherein the data (or pilot) symbols of each user are spread using the different set of orthogonal codes assigned to each user, mapping each data (or pilot) symbol to a modulation symbol in the time-frequency block, generating an orthogonal waveform based on the mapped symbols, and transmitting the orthogonal waveform.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION Reference to Applications for Patent

The present Application for Patent is related to the following U.S. Patent Application:

“Fast Frequency Hopping With a Code Division Multiplexed Pilot in an OFDMA System,” filed Dec. 3, 2003, patent application Ser. No. 10/726,944, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,177,297, which claims priority to “Fast Frequency Hopping With a Code Division Multiplexed Pilot in an OFDMA System,” filed on May 12, 2003, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Number 60/470,107, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for supporting multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) in an orthogonal uplink of a wireless communication system.

2. Background

In a frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) communication system, data is transmitted on different frequency subbands or sub-carriers in different time intervals, which are also referred to as “hop periods”. These frequency subbands may be provided by orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), other multi-carrier modulation techniques, or some other constructs. With FHSS, the data transmission hops from subband to subband in a pseudo-random manner. This hopping provides frequency diversity and allows the data transmission to better withstand deleterious path effects such as narrow-band interference, jamming, fading, and so on.

An OFDMA system utilizes OFDM and can support multiple users simultaneously. For a frequency hopping OFDMA system, data for each user is transmitted using a specific frequency hopping (FH) sequence assigned to the user. The FH sequence indicates the specific subband to use for data transmission in each hop period. Multiple data transmissions for multiple users may be sent simultaneously using different FH sequences. These FH sequences are defined to be orthogonal to one another so that only one data transmission uses each subband in each hop period. By using orthogonal FH sequences, intra-cell interference is avoided, and the multiple data transmissions do not interfere with one another while enjoying the benefits of frequency diversity.

SUMMARY

Techniques are provided herein to support MC-CDMA multiplexing in an orthogonal uplink of a wireless communication system.

In an aspect, a method of wireless multi-carrier communications, comprises dividing sub-carriers on an uplink into non-overlapping groups, allocating at least one time-frequency block, each time-frequency block having a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, assigning a different set of orthogonal codes to each user, spreading symbols of each user over the allocated at least one time-frequency block, wherein the symbols of each user are spread using the different set of orthogonal codes assigned to each user, mapping each symbol to a modulation symbol in the at least one time-frequency block, generating an orthogonal waveform based on the mapped symbols; and transmitting the orthogonal waveform.

In an aspect, the orthogonal waveform generated is an orthogonal frequency division multiple (OFDM) waveform. In another aspect, the orthogonal waveform generated is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) waveform.

In an aspect, an apparatus for wireless multi-carrier communications comprises means for dividing sub-carriers on an uplink into non-overlapping groups, means for allocating at least one time-frequency block, each time-frequency block having a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, means for assigning a different set of orthogonal codes to each user, means for spreading symbols of each user over the allocated at least one time-frequency block, wherein the symbols of each user are spread using the different set of orthogonal codes assigned to each user, means for mapping each symbol to a modulation symbol in the at least one time-frequency block, means for generating an orthogonal waveform based on the mapped symbols, and means for transmitting the orthogonal waveform.

In yet another aspect, a computer readable media embodying a method for wireless multi-carrier communications comprises dividing sub-carriers on an uplink into non-overlapping groups, allocating at least one time-frequency block, each time-frequency block having a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, assigning a different set of orthogonal codes to each user, spreading symbols of each user over the allocated at least one time-frequency block, wherein the symbols of each user are spread using the different set of orthogonal codes assigned to each user, mapping each symbol to a modulation symbol in the at least one time-frequency block, generating an orthogonal waveform based on the mapped symbols, and transmitting the orthogonal waveform.

In still yet another aspect, an apparatus for wireless multi-carrier communications comprises a controller, a processor, and a transmitter. The controller is operative to divide sub-carriers on an uplink into non-overlapping groups, allocate at least one time-frequency block, each time-frequency block having a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, and assign a different set of orthogonal codes to each user. The processor is operative to spread symbols of each user over the allocated at least one time-frequency block, wherein the symbols of each user are spread using the different set of orthogonal codes assigned to each user and map each symbol to a modulation symbol in the at least one time-frequency block. The transmitter is operative to generate an orthogonal waveform based on the mapped symbols, and transmit the orthogonal waveform.

In an aspect, a receiver in a wireless multi-carrier communications system comprises an antenna for receiving an orthogonal waveform, a demodulator for demodulating the orthogonal waveform, thereby creating spread symbols, a processor for determining a time-frequency block from the spread symbols, and a de-spreader for despreading the spread symbols in the time-frequency block using an orthogonal code for a user.

Various aspects and embodiments of the invention are described in further detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, nature, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates the concept of MC-CDMA in the context of FH-OFDMA in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a terminal in accordance with an embodiment; and

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a base station in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs.

An OFDMA system may be deployed with multiple cells, where a cell typically refers to a base station and/or its coverage area. A data transmission on a given subband in one cell acts as interference to another data transmission on the same subband in a neighboring cell. To randomize inter-cell interference, the FH sequences for each cell are typically defined to be pseudo-random with respect to the FH sequences for neighboring cells. By using pseudo-random FH sequences, interference diversity is achieved, and the data transmission for a user in a given cell would observe, over a sufficiently long time period, the average interference from the data transmissions for other users in other cells.

The inter-cell interference can vary significantly from subband to subband at any given moment. To account for the variation in interference across the subbands, a margin is typically used in the selection of a data rate for a data transmission. A large margin is normally needed to achieve a low packet error rate (PER) for the data transmission if the variability in interference is large. The large margin results in a greater reduction in the data rate for the data transmission, which limits system capacity.

Frequency hopping can average the inter-cell interference and reduce the required margin. Increasing the frequency hopping rate results in better interference averaging and decreases the required margin. Fast frequency hopping rate is especially beneficial for certain types of transmissions that encode data across multiple frequency hops and which cannot use other techniques, such as automatic request for retransmission (ARQ), to mitigate the deleterious effects of interference.

Multi-Carrier Code Division Multiple Access (MC-CDMA) system with an FH-OFDMA uplink is a communication system based on a combination of CDMA scheme and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signaling. MC-CDMA is an effective transmission technique on the downlink, as the orthogonality between multiplexed signals can still be preserved even after going through a multi-path channel (assuming accurate time and frequency synchronization between users and a base station), thereby allowing reliable separation of the multiplexed signals at the receiver.

On the other hand, MC-CDMA hasn't been as successful as a multiple-access technique on the uplink. The uplink transmission is inherently different from the downlink transmission in that transmitted signals from different users are affected by different channels. Due to the nature of multiplexing and sensitivity to channel estimation error of MC-CDMA, a disproportionate amount of system resource must be set aside for channel estimation in order for this technique to work on the uplink. Furthermore, synchronization on the uplink is a more complex problem since users see different channels, Doppler shifts, and are often at different distances from the base station.

However, a careful application of MC-CDMA as a multiplexing technique in the context of an FH-OFDMA uplink can result in significant resource utilization improvement, especially in terms of bandwidth utilization for low-spectral efficiency transmission.

In FH-OFDMA a user on the uplink is assigned a subset of sub-carriers and hops over time. Hopping helps improve frequency diversity and interference averaging over time. In an embodiment, sub-carriers on the uplink are divided into non-overlapping groups and each group hops independently. Since channels from consecutive sub-carriers (within a group) are expected to be highly correlated, their channels can be estimated using common pilot symbols, which leads to a significant saving on the pilot overhead (compared to a deployment with random sub-carrier hopping). Furthermore, FH-OFDMA employs a closed-loop uplink time-control mechanism to ensure that all uplink signals arrive within a small time window (i.e., within a cyclic prefix duration), which helps facilitate inter-symbol interference (ISI) and inter-carrier interference (ICI) mitigation.

In an embodiment, FH-OFDMA supports MC-CDMA multiplexing either across different users or across different signals from the same user. FIG. 1 illustrates the concept of MC-CDMA in the context of FH-OFDMA in accordance with an embodiment. The horizontal axis is for OFDM symbols 102. The vertical axis is for sub-carriers 108.

The example assumes 8-carrier group hopping over 8 OFDM symbols. As such, there are 64 modulation symbols in each time-frequency block 106. Hop duration 102 and carrier association 108 are shown for a time-frequency block.

In an embodiment, the time and frequency are contiguous in a time-frequency block. A time-frequency block is a contiguous allocation of OFDM symbols and subcarriers. Alternatively, frequency is not contiguous in a time-frequency block, but frequencies that are part of the same time-frequency block are orthogonal to each other.

Each user is assigned a different set of orthogonal codes to be used in spreading respective data (or pilot) symbols over the allocated time-frequency block. Examples of orthogonal codes include Walsh codes and Gold codes, which are both known in the art.

After spreading, each symbol is mapped to one of the modulation symbols in the assigned time-frequency block. A corresponding OFDMA waveform is then generated based on these symbols (following standard OFDMA waveform generation technique). As can be seen, multiple users are sharing the same time-frequency allocation—a marked distinction from the traditional FH-OFDMA where users are assigned different sets of time-frequency allocation to ensure orthogonality. With proper choices of number of sub-carriers in a group and hop duration, respective channels of different users appear to be constant over certain time-frequency allocation, thereby allowing users to be separated based on the unique spreading signatures/codes assigned to different users.

MC-CDMA signals from different users are multiplexed over the same time-frequency allocation. A respective channel from each user is expected to be constant over each time-frequency allocation, thereby allowing separation at the receiver.

This technique is particularly effective in multiplexing low-spectral efficiency transmissions from different users (e.g., pilot symbols, ACK/NACK symbols, CQI (channel quality indicator) symbols, etc.) over the same time-frequency allocation on the uplink. Furthermore, this technique can also be used to help alleviate link budget constraint in certain scenarios.

As an example, a one-bit transmission (e.g., a pilot or ACK/NACK symbol or CQI symbol) on the uplink is considered. In order to meet the performance requirement, a certain amount of received SNR must be achieved. A user can either transmit the bit over one transmission at a very high power or transmit at a lower power over several transmissions (e.g., through repetition). The former technique results in high bandwidth efficiency (i.e., only one transmission is required) but may suffer from link budget constraint and, worse yet, from poor performance due to lack of frequency/interference diversity. The alternative approach is to transmit this one bit over several transmissions. To improve frequency/interference diversity each transmission may take place over different frequency and/or time instants. This approach will likely result in more reliable detection at the receiver, but this is at the expense of larger bandwidth overhead and possibly longer transmission time. Longer transmission time of an ACK/NACK bit results in less processing time at the transmitter, especially in a system where H-ARQ is used.

A compromise is to use a transmission technique that is able to garner sufficient amount of frequency/interference diversity while still using reasonable amount of bandwidth. A structure with consecutive carrier group hopping considered previously can be used. In this setting, a user transmits the one-bit quantity over multiple time-frequency blocks in order collect frequency/interference diversity. Furthermore, multiple users are orthogonally multiplexed over a particular time-frequency block to minimize the overall bandwidth consumption. To see this latter point, consider a scenario where a user transmits the one-bit quantity over M transmissions. Assume that N transmissions fall within a particular time-frequency block (i.e., a user transmits over a total of M/N blocks). As such, a user requires N modulation symbols from each block. Assuming that there are a total of K modulation symbols per time-frequency block, each block can then support at most K/N users. Clearly, if the channel remains fairly constant (in both time and frequency) over each time-frequency block, one can readily apply the MC-CDMA multiplexing technique. Towards that end, each user is assigned one of the orthogonal code sequences to modulate a respective data symbol. Orthogonally-spread symbols are then put on appropriate sub-carriers from which an OFDM waveform can be generated.

By assigning an orthogonal code sequence to each user, up to K users can be multiplexed in each time-frequency block while still being able to collect the same amount of energy (after despreading). In addition, since each user is now transmitting over the entire time-frequency block, a saving on the link budget is an immediate byproduct. The link budget saving comes primarily from the fact that each user is transmitting over a longer duration.

This transmission technique can also be generalized to work in a setting where users are transmitting more than just one bit each. In particular, it is always possible to modify the transmission of each user such that multiple users can be multiplexed over each time-frequency block (i.e., through a deliberate spreading). The true bandwidth saving, however, really comes when repetition code (which is a form of spreading) is inherent to the transmission.

In an FH-OFDMA setting, a repetition code is also useful as a means to alleviate link budget constraint. For instance, due to a link budget limitation a user may not be able to meet the received SNR requirement when transmitting a coded symbol over one transmission. One way of getting around this is to transmit each coded symbol over multiple transmissions, each with lower power, at different time instants (i.e., through repetitions). Clearly, by applying the proposed user multiplexing technique, the desired result can be achieved while limiting the bandwidth overhead to a minimum.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a terminal 220 x, which is one of the terminals in an OFDMA system. For simplicity, only the transmitter portion of terminal 220 x is shown in FIG. 2.

Within terminal 220 x, an encoder/interleaver 212 receives traffic data from a data source 210 and possibly control data and other data from a controller 240. Encoder/interleaver 212 formats, encodes, and interleaves the received data to provide coded data. A modulator 214 then modulates the coded data in accordance with one or more modulation schemes (e.g., QPSK, M-PSK, M-QAM, and so on) to provide modulation symbols (or simply, “data symbols”). Each modulation symbol is a complex value for a specific point in a signal constellation for the modulation scheme used for that modulation symbol.

An OFDM modulator 220 performs frequency hopping and OFDM processing for the data symbols. Within OFDM modulator 220, a TX FH processor 222 receives the data symbols and provides these data symbols on the proper subbands determined by an FH sequence for a traffic channel assigned to terminal 220 x. This FH sequence indicates the specific subband to use in each hop period and is provided by controller 240. The TX FH processor 222 provides data symbols. The data symbols dynamically hop from subband to subband in a pseudo-random manner determined by the FH sequence. For each OFDM symbol period, TX FH processor 222 provides N “transmit” symbols for the N subbands. These N transmit symbols are composed of one data symbol for the subband used for data transmission (if data is being transmitted) and a signal value of zero for each subband not used for data transmission.

An inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) unit 224 receives the N transmit symbols for each OFDM symbol period. IFFT unit 224 then transforms the N transmit symbols to the time domain using an N-point inverse FFT to obtain a “transformed” symbol that contains N time-domain “data” chips. Each data chip is a complex value to be transmitted in one chip period. (The chip rate is related to the overall bandwidth of the system.) A cyclic prefix generator 226 receives the N data chips for each transformed symbol and repeats a portion of the transformed symbol to form an OFDM symbol that contains N+C_(p) data chips, where C_(p) is the number of data chips being repeated. The repeated portion is often referred to as a cyclic prefix and is used to combat inter-symbol interference (ISI) caused by frequency selective fading. An OFDM symbol period corresponds to the duration of one OFDM symbol, which is N+C_(p) chip periods. Cyclic prefix generator 226 provides a stream of data chips for a stream of OFDM symbols.

A transmit (TX) pilot processor 230 receives the stream of data chips and at least one pilot symbol. TX pilot processor 230 generates a narrowband pilot. TX pilot processor 230 provides a stream of “transmit” chips. A transmitter unit (TMTR) 232 processes the stream of transmit chips to obtain a modulated signal, which is transmitted from an antenna 234 to the base station.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a base station 210 x, which is one of the base stations in the OFDMA system. For simplicity, only the receiver portion of base station 210 x is shown in FIG. 3.

The modulated signal transmitted by terminal 220 x is received by an antenna 252. The received signal from antenna 252 is provided to and processed by a receiver unit (RCVR) 254 to provide samples. Receiver unit 254 may further perform sample rate conversion (from the receiver sampling rate to the chip rate), frequency/phase correction, and other pre-processing on the samples. Receiver unit 254 provides a stream of “received” chips.

A receive (RX) pilot processor 260 receives and processes the stream of received chips to recover the narrowband pilot and the data chips transmitted by terminal 220 x. Several designs for RX pilot processor 260 are described below. RX pilot processor 260 provides a stream of received data chips to an OFDM demodulator 270 and channel gain estimates to a digital signal processor (DSP) 262. DSP 262 processes the channel gain estimates to obtain channel response estimates used for data demodulation, as described below.

Within OFDM demodulator 270, a cyclic prefix removal unit 272 receives the stream of received data chips and removes the cyclic prefix appended to each received OFDM symbol to obtain a received transformed symbol. An FFT unit 274 then transforms each received transformed symbol to the frequency domain using an N-point FFT to obtain N received symbols for the N subbands. An RX FH processor 276 obtains the N received symbols for each OFDM symbol period and provides the received symbol from the proper subband as the received data symbol for that OFDM symbol period. The specific subband from which to obtain the received data symbol in each OFDM symbol period is determined by the FH sequence for the traffic channel assigned to terminal 220 x. This FH sequence is provided by a controller 290. Since the data transmission by terminal 220 x dynamically hops from subband to subband, RX FH processor 276 operates in unison with TX FH processor 222 in terminal 220 x and provides the received data symbols from the proper subbands. The FH sequence used by RX FH processor 276 at base station 210 x is the same as the FH sequence used by TX FH processor 222 at terminal 220 x. Moreover, the FH sequences at base station 210 x and terminal 220 x are synchronized. RX FH processor 276 provides a stream of received data symbols to a demodulator 280.

Demodulator 280 receives and coherently demodulates the received data symbols with the channel response estimates from DSP 262 to obtain recovered data symbols. The channel response estimates are for the subbands used for data transmission. Demodulator 280 further demaps the recovered data symbols to obtain demodulated data. A deinterleaver/decoder 282 then deinterleaves and decodes the demodulated data to provide decoded data, which may be provided to a data sink 284 for storage. In general, the processing by the units in base station 210 x is complementary to the processing performed by the corresponding units in terminal 220 x.

Controllers 240 and 290 direct operations at terminal 220 x and base station 210 x, respectively. Memory units 242 and 292 provide storage for program codes and data used by controllers 240 and 290, respectively. Controllers 240 and 290 may also perform pilot-related processing. For example, controllers 240 and 290 may determine the time intervals when a narrowband pilot for terminal 220 x should be transmitted and received, respectively.

For clarity, FIGS. 2 and 3 show transmission and reception, respectively, of pilot and data on the reverse link. Similar or different processing may be performed for pilot and data transmission on the forward link.

The techniques described herein may be used for a frequency hopping OFDMA system as well as other wireless multi-carrier communication systems. For example, these techniques may be used for systems that employ other multi-carrier modulation techniques such as discrete multi-tone (DMT).

The techniques described herein may be used for efficient narrowband uplink pilot transmissions in a Time Division Duplexing (TDD) deployment. The saving is in both system bandwidth and link budget for each user. For example, given three users, each transmitting a symbol over three time slots, each user transmits its symbol at 1/3 transmission power over three time slots.

The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means at the transmitter and the receiver. The pilot and data processing at the transmitter and receiver may be performed in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing units (e.g., TX pilot processor 230, RX pilot processor 260, DSP 222, and so on) may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a software implementation, the pilot and data processing at the transmitter and receiver may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in memory units (e.g., memory units 242 and 292 in FIGS. 2 and 3) and executed by processors (e.g., controllers 240 and 290). The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor, in which case it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means as is known in the art.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of a wireless multi-carrier communications system, comprising: dividing sub-carriers on an uplink into non-overlapped groups; allocating a time-frequency block, wherein the time-frequency block has a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, and wherein each non-overlapped group hops independently of other non-overlapped groups; spreading symbols transmitted by a plurality of user terminals over the time-frequency block on the uplink, the plurality of user terminals comprising a first user terminal and a second user terminal, wherein the symbols transmitted by the first user terminal are spread using a first set of orthogonal codes differing from a second set of orthogonal codes used to spread the symbols transmitted by the second user terminal; mapping each spread symbol to a modulation symbol in the time-frequency block, each spread symbol comprising one of the symbols transmitted by the plurality of user terminals spread over the time-frequency block; generating an orthogonal waveform based on the mapped symbols; and transmitting the mapped symbols on the uplink.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein dividing the sub-carriers comprises dividing contiguous sub-carriers into one non-overlapped group.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an orthogonal frequency division multiple (OFDM) waveform based on the mapped symbols, and wherein transmitting the mapped symbols comprises transmitting the OFDM waveform.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) waveform based on the mapped symbols, and wherein transmitting the mapped symbols comprises transmitting the OFDMA waveform.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein spreading the symbols comprises spreading pilot symbols.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein spreading the symbols comprises spreading ACK/NACK symbols.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein spreading the symbols comprises spreading CQI (Channel Quality Indicator) symbols.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein spreading the symbols comprises spreading Request symbols.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of orthogonal codes and the second set of orthogonal codes are Walsh codes.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of orthogonal codes and the second set of orthogonal codes are Gold codes.
 11. An apparatus for a wireless multi-carrier communications system, comprising: means for dividing sub-carriers on an uplink into non-overlapped groups; means for allocating a time-frequency block, wherein the time-frequency block has a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, and wherein each non-overlapped group hops independently of other non-overlapped groups; means for spreading symbols transmitted by a plurality of user terminals over the time-frequency block on the uplink, the plurality of user terminals comprising a first user terminal and a second user terminal, wherein the symbols transmitted by the first user terminal are spread using a first set of orthogonal codes differing from a second set of orthogonal codes used to spread the symbols transmitted by the second user terminal; means for mapping each spread symbol to a modulation symbol in the time-frequency block, each spread symbol comprising one of the symbols transmitted by the plurality of user terminals spread over the time-frequency block; means for generating an orthogonal waveform based on the mapped symbols; and means for transmitting the mapped symbols on the uplink.
 12. An apparatus for a wireless multi-carrier communications system, comprising: a controller operative to: divide sub-carriers on an uplink into non-overlapped groups; and allocate at least one time-frequency block, wherein the at least one time-frequency block has a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, and wherein each non-overlapped group hops independently of other non-overlapped groups; a processor operative to: spread symbols transmitted by a plurality of user terminals over the time-frequency block on the uplink, the plurality of user terminals comprising a first user terminal and a second user terminal, wherein the symbols transmitted by the first user terminal are spread using a first set of orthogonal codes differing from a second set of orthogonal codes used to spread the symbols transmitted by the second user terminal; and map each spread symbol to a modulation symbol in the time-frequency block, each spread symbol comprising one of the symbols transmitted by the plurality of user terminals spread over the time-frequency block; and a transmitter operative to: generate an orthogonal waveform based on the mapped symbols; and transmit the mapped symbols on the uplink.
 13. A receiver of a wireless multi-carrier communications system, wherein a time-frequency block is allocated, the time-frequency block having a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, the receiver comprising: an antenna for receiving an orthogonal waveform, the orthogonal waveform comprising symbols transmitted by a plurality of user terminals on an uplink, the plurality of user terminals comprising a first user terminal and a second user terminal, wherein the symbols transmitted by the plurality of users are spread over the time-frequency block on the uplink using a first set of orthogonal codes assigned to the first user terminal differing from a second set of orthogonal codes assigned to the second user terminal; a demodulator for demodulating the received orthogonal waveform, thereby creating spread symbols; a processor for determining a received time-frequency block from the spread symbols; and a de-spreader for de-spreading the spread symbols transmitted on the uplink in the received time-frequency block using the first set of orthogonal codes assigned to the first user terminal.
 14. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying code executable by a processor for implementing a method for a wireless multi-carrier communications system, the method comprising: dividing sub-carriers on an uplink into non-overlapped groups; allocating a time-frequency block, wherein the time-frequency block has a hopping duration and a non-overlapped group, and wherein each non-overlapped group hops independently of other non-overlapped groups; spreading symbols transmitted by a plurality of user terminals over the time-frequency block on the uplink, the plurality of user terminals comprising a first user terminal and a second user terminal, wherein the symbols transmitted by the first user terminal are spread using a first set of orthogonal codes differing from a second set of orthogonal codes used to spread the symbols transmitted by the second user terminal; mapping each spread symbol to a modulation symbol in the time-frequency block, each spread symbol comprising one of the symbols transmitted by the plurality of user terminals spread over the time-frequency block; generating an orthogonal waveform based on the mapped symbols; and transmitting the mapped symbols on the uplink. 